Being the Continuing Adventures of a Woman and her Trusty Kayak in New York Harbor, the Hudson River, and Beyond.
(with occasional political rants just to keep things lively!)

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Dust to Deliverance Book Launch/Reading Suggestion (Jessica DuLong on the 9/11 Boatlift)

For anyone who's read my 9/11 story, you know that after I fled the WTC by subway, I spent the rest of the day at Pier 63 Maritime, where owner John Krevey (now sorely missed after a heart attack some years later took him from us far too young) was able to call in some of the charter boats that would use the barge as a boarding spot to come evacuate people from Manhattan. That effort was part of a much larger one that happened all over the Manhattan waterfront, especially downtown - the maritime community was in a unique position to help those who were trapped in Manhattan when transportation shut down after the attack, and so many did. I will always be grateful that I was able to spend the day helping that way, it was the best thing I could have done after the morning was shattered.

Jessica DuLong, who I met during my Pier 63 days, is part of the team on the Fireboat John J. Harvey, who went to help with quenching the fires in the ruins beginning that day and staying for many more. In addition to being an engineer on the fireboat, she's a very good author. I loved her first book, My River Chronicles: Rediscovering America On The Hudson, in which she tells the story of how she went from working for a dot com company to being an engineer on an antique fireboat and shares reflections on the Hudson River, industrial history, and the changing role of physical labor in America.

Her next project has been a book about the boatlift of 9/11. It should be fascinating. It's been a long and sometimes grueling process for her, interviewing so many people who were involved and sorting through memories that are still very raw for people who were there that day, but she stuck with it and tonight I'm looking forward to attending the book launch for Dust to Deliverance: Untold Stories from the Maritime Evacuation on September 11th.

Sorry about the late notice but on the infinitesimal chance that you are a NYC-area person looking for something very interesting to do tonight, click here for details on the fireboat's website. 7:30 pm. And even if you can't, well, I ordinarily wouldn't recommend a book I haven't read yet, but I know this one will be good.

And while I'm on the topic of the boatlift - here is a video that's always worth sharing again.

2 comments:

My ex-boss, who had taken an insurance job in lower Manhattan, lived in New Jersey and was one of the people transported by that boat lift. I am thrilled that I have now met someone connected with it through blogging. May I thank you and everyone else involved.